Boulder Health & Fitness

NSA scolded in open Senate hearing

From left, National Security Agency Director General Keith Alexander, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and Deputy Attorney General James Cole are sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013, prior to testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and National Security Agency (NSA) call records. (Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press)

WASHINGTON — The nation's intelligence chiefs on Thursday acknowledged they would like to put the phone records of every American in a "lockbox," that there is no legal ceiling as to what they can collect, and that there is justification to collect other bulk data — like medical and business records — with court approval.

Thursday's Senate Intelligence hearing was the first one to be open to the public since former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden launched his long string of leaks to American and foreign news organizations about the country's domestic surveillance programs.

Facing the panel of U.S. Senators — including Democratic Sen. Mark Udall, who has criticized the NSA for its lack of transparency and some of its spying methods — Gen. Keith Alexander, NSA director, defended current data collection, saying it has kept the United States safe from terrorist attacks.

That includes bulk phone records of millions of Americans — including the number dialed and length of call, officials said Thursday. The contents of those calls are not collected.

California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein said the authority to collect those records has helped find American connections to known foreign terrorists — including al-Shabab, which authorities believe is responsible for the recent attacks inside a Kenyan mall.

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"I believe it is in the nation's best interest to put all of the phone records into a lockbox that we could search when the nation needs to do it," Alexander said.

Udall disagrees and is promoting bipartisan legislation with Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden and Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul that would place an independent advocate at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to argue against the government in some cases. The legislation would also require that certain cases that go before the now-secretive FISA Court be public.

Wyden and Udall have been a team in criticizing many of the spy methods used in recent years. Wyden didn't parse words Thursday in the open hearing, telling Alexander and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper they have "deceived" the American people.

"Your agencies face terrible consequences," Wyden said. "That trust is going to take time to rebuild."

Udall said in an interview afterward that he wouldn't go that far.

"The 'D' word is a powerful word," he said. "I would say that if we don't put these reforms in place and the intelligence community is not more forthcoming, it's hard to resist ultimately making that call or determination."

Udall continues to be most concerned about the authority — granted under the Patriot Act to the administration — to collect private intelligence on innocent Americans.

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